I am not so comfortable… #comfortzone #blogchatter

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Sitting in front of my computer with a blank screen

 

I am not so comfortable writing directly into the content panel of my WordPress blog. I write on a daily basis, at least a 1000 words. This forms a part of my daily writing practice. It all goes in my Evernote App. I write notes, observations, reflections about the day – how I could work more effectively and bring more into what I do, thoughts of life as it occurs around me, and much more. I have been building this 1000 word a day habit since I read about its effectiveness and amazing results after reading Srinvas Rao’s post.

I was thoroughly inspired after going through that post. I had been trying to become a regular blogger for a while but I just couldn’t generate the quality content with the frequency I was aiming for. And finally, somehow I had stumbled across Rao’s article which gave me a great surge of confidence.

This was mainly because of two main reasons.

  1. I had been trying to revamp my freelance/work from home lifestyle in order to become more productive and passionate about what I was doing. For this, I read several books like The Power of Now, The Power of Habit and countless others for which I will be dedicating a post(A Book Review). The Power of Habit was something that I found very interesting and could easily observe how these habits were playing a role in my life – especially as obstacles preventing me from doing what I really wanted to. And I had gradually started implementing the ideas I learned from the book and I had started noticing its results over time.
  2. Rao’s article about how writing thousand words changed his life focused on the similar principle of habits – how are brain forms habits and how we can use that to our benefit. He simply built a writing habit – wake up, and write the first thing in the morning, regularly, for 30 days or so. And soon he started noticing the immense growth in his writing skill and the audience (readers) appreciation for his work. He even published a best seller in no time.

I was especially inspired by the simple connection of writing and habit building. I used to write and blog, but I always hit a slump after a while. What was missing, I had found in this post. I hadn’t cultivated the right habits, that is, I wasn’t writing regularly and consistently every day for the same duration and at the same time, until it got totally ingrained in me and words started flowing endlessly.

My attempts at writing and publishing blog posts were earnest but feeble because I didn’t build up on them and lacked consistency. And after I read Rao’s article, I started practicing right from the next day. It’s been at least 4-5 months since that day. And I have been consistent with it. I can guarantee 100% that I have developed the writing habit – at least the journaling habit as all my thoughts get written in my Evernote Notebook (App). But it has been a really wonderful growth.

The last time I checked I had crossed at least a 400, 000 words during the period of these months. And all the things I had written were not rambles only, but much clearer well articulated and even insightful thoughts on various things.

But where I began building a consistency, I started making that my comfort zone. I still wasn’t blogging, at least not regularly. I think the major obstacle was that blogging required me to hit publish and put my words out there, where others would read. So, I felt the need to edit and make it sound good and better and more concise. I think editing is important, like proofreading, but my obsession with it continued to prevent me from publishing my work.

joan-m-mas-writer-digital-sketch
Digital Sketch by Joan M. Mas

I blogged so rarely, but when I did I used to spend a lot of time on editing, re-wording, re-phrasing, proofing, making it aesthetically pleasing – formatting, picking the right images. I gave the secondary aspects so much attention that it always turned the whole blogging experience into a tedious task which I think prevented me from going back to doing it all over again the next time I wrote. So that probably is one reason why I wrote, but I never blogged what I wrote.

Finally, I decided. That I will write directly in the WordPress’ content panel and hit publish without revisiting what I wrote. And this post is my first attempt at that. Today’s 1000 word practice is this. It started in this space and will end in this space or rather (after I hit publish) the infinite digi-space that spans the world.

So this became a sort of a writer’s prompt: “I am not so comfortable….”

Come to think of it. Srinvas Rao (the one I have been referring to throughout this post and also the author of The Art of Being Unmistakable), did something similar. After a while, his daily writing practice, and what he created during it, he started turning them into blog posts.

So, I am not aspiring for the fame, the bestseller. But what touched me was the heart behind his effort. Something which I am trying to find in my own. My contentment lies in my consistency and in the joy of creation. Just that I haven’t been finding either of it in what I do for quite a while now.

But I have started to feel glimpses of it, even as I write this post without looking a single word behind or rereading a single sentence. Simply typing away, letting the next word be whatever it is, and correcting only in case my fingers go faster than the keyboard keys (typos).

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So, as a part of a team of bloggers forming the Blog Chatter Community hosted and started by the lovely blogger Richa, I am challenging you all (including you the reader) to give this a try.

Start with:

I am not comfortable

And write the next thing that comes to your mind. Fill the page or the screen, depending on where you are writing it.

Give it a try, and try making it a Free Writing attempt as you do. This is my second attempt at Free Writing.

Here is my first free written post – A Childhood Memory | Revived by Free Writing #WYHO

For newcomers, again, here is a link that will help you understand free writing: Unleash Your Creativity Now: How to Freewrite

P.S. A celebratory note. This is my first writing practice out of the 275 which I directly wrote into my wordpress blog’s content pane. It was free written, so non-edited and not even proofed for errors. It is as I began here and as it turned out. *self-claps*

P.S.S. When I went back to format (add images, highlights, typographical edits) this post, I did end up erasing one word which I found redundant, but after that I stayed conscious of it, and didn’t get into any further content edit. Also this free write attempt wasn’t timed, but I did finish the post in one sitting except for the post writing formatting, which I did it through the day as and when I got time. 

Update

P.S.S.S. I ended up proofing this article eventually when we were redesigning the blog. As I was going through all the posts, formatting them to fit our new WordPress template and adding them to new categories and assigning new tags, I ended up editing and fine tuning the content here and there for improved legibility and a better reader experience. 

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4 COMMENTS

  1. 1000 words a day – that is a habit I need to develop.

    And I can relate to what you have written about self editing. I am the same way. I edit, proofread, re-read, and then obsess over images and formatting. But then I am like that in most areas of my life, so I guess I just will accept that and move on. 😛

    But 1000 words a day – that is a wonderful idea, and very doable too. 🙂

    • Ya Shanaya, it is a wonderful habit as long as you learn to bring some consciousness to it and prevent it from turning into a mechanical routine! Then definitely you will soar, unimaginably.

      Oh haha, so you also are an obsessive self-editor of life in general ha. I am learning that it is more of a hindrance than an advantage. When you think again and again critically about the same thing, you end up spending more time and energy without really creating anything.

      Also over time you stop trusting your first attempts, and end up delaying things and not finishing tasks because you starting thinking they would take more time as you wouldn’t want them as they are in the first attempt. So you end up obsessing over it until satisfied.

      And often times the thing we are tweaking can’t get any better than what it is, because that is the best we can create in that point in time. So the only way to improve the final product and enhance our output is to start focusing on the next and the next and continue delivering and growing through experience. 🙂

  2. This a a wonderful way of enhancing one’s writing skills. I do as well type without seeing what I am writing especially during my chats. I guess it goes the same way when our thoughts are being transpired into words. As i write this comment, I am not going to recheck this as i feel it gives all of us a message. Do what you are doing with some conviction, and you shall get through it. I failed is 10 times more the man than “What if”, because what if never went to the arena.

    • true! well put Prasenjit! The only challenge is to return to it day in and day out, to maintain that consistency and deliver even when things may not be so favorable and you might not feel up to it!

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